1999 2.4L 4cyl.
Dodge Stratus (obviously)
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So my rear drum brakes FINALLY went up. Unfortunately, so did my front calipers. That's why I am at where I am right now.

The rear drums were replaced by certified professionals (as I am nothing more then a backyard mechanic, and I was very intimidated by drum brakes). To save money I decided to replace my calipers. The rotors and pads have all been recently replaced, so I figured it should have been a simple operation.

So ALL of the brakes are new. Calipers are properly in place, same with the pads and rotors. I can only assume that the mechanics who did my drums did their job right.

But now, since I replaced the calipers and undid the brake line, I am trying to bleed my brake lines, and this is where I am getting frustrated to a point of near insanity. Here's the situation:

I have my wife helping me in an effort to make this as easy as possible. I guess I'll start by telling you all the routine we have:
(Car is off for all of the following):

Bleed order: Left Rear, Right Front, Right Rear, Left Front (as per the Hayne's manual instruction)

-Place wrench on bleed valve
-Slight pressure is put on the brake pedal
-Open the valve
-Push brake pedal down to the floor
-Once the stream flow slows (which only takes about 1 second) close the valve
-Pedal is released
-Pump the pedal
-Repeat
-Move on to next brake
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We have been doing this over and over and over for the past two nights. When the car is off, it is easy to feel the pressure being built up in the pedal. Once the car is turned on and running, the pedal goes all the way to the floor with no resistance and no pressure. I tried moving the car from it's parking space to see IF it would even stop, and it only stopped once the pedal was completely down to the floor (again, no resistance, no pressure)

Last night, before we gave up for the evening, we added brake fluid and 'topped off' the master cylinder. When we got back to it late this afternoon, the brake fluid level was in the same place, so I'm pretty confident that there is not a leak. I'm also pretty sure that the problem isn't the master cylinder (I could be wrong though). But the reason I doubt the master cylinder is the problem is that after the drum brakes were replaced, I drove it the short distance home and had plenty of resistance in the pedal. So unless our attempts at bleeding the line somehow ruined the master cylinder, i don't see why it would be failing now. (Also, the shop I went to didn't list the master cylinder in their diagnostic check, and I know they would tell me EVERYTHING that was wrong if they wanted to milk my wallet). SO, are we doing anything wrong here?
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Last question (newbie question): How can I tell if I have ABS or not? When I turn on my accesories (or first start the engine) when all the lights appear on the instrument cluster, shouldn't an ABS light come on? If that's the case, i don't have an ABS light coming on.
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Sorry this is SO drawn out, but this has been the source of a lot of frustration for me and my wife. I NEED this car. I was supposed to start a new job as a delivery driver yesterday, but had to leave SIX HOURS EARLY on my FIRST DAY because of this, and I need to get back to work. Can't do that until the car is back in prime condition (I mean... As prime as it can be with 212,000 miles lol).

PLEASE HELP!!!!! ANY INFO!!!! THANK YOU!!!

 

It sounds to me, and i'm new to the forum but not new to replacing brakes, like you need to go back and keep pumping. there may still be a bubble of air trapped in the lines and if you only repeated the pumping procedure once, it may not have come out. isolate the longest brake line coming from the master cylinder, and pump it like you and your wife were doing a good 5-6...10 (shouldn't take THAT much) more times. but make sure your fluid level doesn't get too low. then move on to the second longest line, repeat, third longest...etc. hope that helps

 

Thank you SO much. We will definitely keep at it. I just didn't want to keep going if there could have been a different problem I should have been handling instead of wasting time doing the same thing over and over. So that in mind, we will definitely keep going as you said. Thank you thank you thank you

 

I don't really work much on brakes but maybe somebody else here can answer this question. What if when you drained the brakes lines the fluid level got low in the master cylinder and air got into the master cylinder? You may need to bleed the master cylinder? Is that possible?

 

I've never bled the master cylinder, I don't even know if you can. If you got air into the master cylinder from low brake fluid, just bleed it out the normal way, through the brake lines.

 

Unless you're ABS light is out, you don't have ABS. Also look at the back of the rotating wheel hub. The ABS hub is serrated with a pickup sensor. Most certainly bleed the master cylinder. If you have replaced the calipers it takes a lot of fluid to refill them. When you pump the brake do rapid pumps then hold. Keep holding the pedal down while bleeding, and don't let off until you re tighten the bleeder valve. Repeat until you get peddle. Make sure the master cylinder always remains full.
We had brake bleeders, but the old two man, " pump them up and hold", always worked.

 

This may be a stupid question but are the caliper bleeder screws on the top or the bottom? Again, when did this problem start?

 

About bleeding; here`s a simple one-man solution I learned as a kid


After opening the valve, put a tight rubberhose on it that reaches down to the bottom of a bottle or something with a bit brakefluid in, enough to cover the hoseend so it doesn`t suck air.

With the hose "breathing" in the brakefluid there`s no need to shut it between each pedal-pump, instead you can pump several times and just check and fill up the brakefluid reservoair frequently.

Try not to floor the brakepedal too much sinse this tends to wear out the sealer in the main-cylinder.

 

1st gen w/rear drums. You don't have ABS. (ABS equipped 1g's had rear disc brakes)